Michael's Musings

Something about art

July 11, 2020July 11, 2020 by MAÔ, posted in Art

“Art is the highest expression of the human spirit” – Joyce Carol Oates

There are certain times when artistic expression is more important than we might otherwise think it is. We don’t pay much attention to what’s being produced, performed, or created when we go about our lives on the day-to-day. We work, watch television, read, go to bed.

However, now with so much time on our hands for many Americans, we get to really delve into the meaning behind where we get joy.

In 1970, Leonard Bernstein gave an address at the opening exercises of the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts: “…Dr. Norton said, ‘It is the artists of the world, the feelers and thinkers, who will ultimately save us, who can articulate, educate, defy, insist, sing, and shout the big dreams. Only the artists can turn the not-yet into reality.'”

Understanding the world

July 9, 2020July 9, 2020 by MAÔ, posted in Science

The world is structured and ordered in a very particular way. What we know of it isn’t the way itself. Rather, it is our interpretation and narrative of what we can understand.

This is similar to the Tao of Eastern philosophy. According to Lao Tzu: “The Way that can be named is not the Eternal Way.”

What we try doing by understanding – mostly through the sciences – is to shine a light on the potentially unknowable. The closer we get to the understanding of all things, the more complicated and in-depth the answers seem to become.

For instance, one philosophy class I had considered the creation of the Universe in such a way:

Querent 1: The universe was formed during the Big Bang. There was no god necessary.
Querent 2: But what caused the Big Bang?
Querent 1: At the singularity, where all matter was densely gathered, a quantum event caused the matter to explode outward and form the mass and matter of the universe.
Querent 2: So what caused this quantum event?

And so on, and so on…

It’s like the joke of the astrophysicist told by Stephen Hawking in A Brief History of Time:

“A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: “What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.” The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, “What is the tortoise standing on?” “You’re very clever, young man, very clever”, said the old lady. “But it’s turtles all the way down!”

And you know what? Maybe it really is turtles all the way down.

Fear

July 8, 2020July 8, 2020 by MAÔ, posted in Thoughts

Fear can be a deciding factor in whether or not we do something.

It can overwhelm a person, making it impossible to act. Or it can be a motivating factor.

While fear itself will not drive discovery, it can cause a person to be more apt to act in some situations.

When fear arises, listen to it. What is it warning you away from? It may be that what scares you is the thing you need most to head towards.

Refilling the well

July 2, 2020July 2, 2020 by MAÔ, posted in Work

Inspiration isn’t something that can be emptied. Sure, we can feel blocked at times. But in reality, it’s just our own self getting in our way.

There’s no real trick to finding inspiration. One study suggests that focusing on a non-mentally demanding task can free up the subconscious to do its work. It’s why showers often bring good ideas, and thinking of a question before going to sleep can net you an answer upon waking.

Another good practice is to experience the ideas of others. I’m torn by what Seneca says about reading – “Be careful, however, that there is no element of discursiveness and desultoriness about this reading you refer to, this reading of many different authors and books of every description. You should be extending your stay among writers whose genius is unquestionable, deriving constant nourishment from them if you wish to gain anything from your reading that will find a lasting place in your mind. To be everywhere is to be nowhere. People who spend their whole life traveling abroad end up having plenty of places where they can find hospitality but no real friendships. The same must needs be the case with people who never set about acquiring an intimate acquaintanceship with any one great writer, but skip from one to another, paying flying vists to them all.” (italics for my emphasis)

I do see the value of spending time reading one author’s work and digesting it, not just glancing over it. This rumination could be akin to what Cal Newport calls deep work.

However, it’s also good to gain perspectives from many sources, especially when looking to pull from your own source of creativity. Gaining a multitude of ideas is how the well is filled.

That brand of yours

July 1, 2020July 1, 2020 by MAÔ, posted in Work

Building a brand is easy, assuming you have one unified interest. But, what if you’re someone who likes to dabble in many fields, to try new things?

The tech mogul who wants to improve healthcare. The reknowned actress campaigning for social justice. Or the one holding down a job while doing anything creative on the side.

The most important thing is just to stick with it.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison

Only imagine

June 30, 2020June 30, 2020 by MAÔ, posted in Thoughts

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.”

The visibility ethics

June 29, 2020June 29, 2020 by MAÔ, posted in Economy

Early in the pandemic, shortly after Congress approved trillions of dollars in aid for individuals and businesses suffering from job losses and decreased revenue, companies such as Shake Shack and Ruth’s Chris Steak House received millions under the Paycheck Protection Program. Of course, they were instantly lambasted, given the size of their organizations.

However, the purpose of any corporation is to increase value to stakeholders. Under that very broad understanding of the purpose – to make money – it would be counterintuitive to not apply for that additional revenue.

This is an issue that is seen, again and again, currently playing out on Facebook, in Disneyland, and likely the nation.

Facebook has the choice of whether to do more to curb hate speech or to keep a more hands-off approach in the hopes of driving more revenue. Now that advertisers such as Starbucks are pulling out of Facebook (and other social media), the loss-of-revenue could become a very real driver for organizational change.

Similarly, Disney is pushing to reopen its parks here in the US. Now, we are arguably facing more of a health crisis now with spiking numbers than when we initially started shutting down back in March. Because, now, there’s little to no talk about shutting down again.

The company is dedicated to increasing revenue. If everyone else is open, why would a company self-censure itself? That could mean losses of revenue. Yet employees in Disneyland are striking against the reopening over health concerns.

While there are businesses out there who will do the right thing at the cost of losing business, there are others who will do the accepted thing in the hopes of earning revenue. Sometimes, it’s expensive to do the right thing.